Kisuke of the Bucket Hat
by thelegendarysupernerd
Summary: They all have their epithets. Teresa of the Faint Smile. Quicksword Irene. And then you have Kisuke. Kisuke of the Bucket Hat
1. Chapter 1

It was quiet. That was his first thought. Far too quite for a village, even one of this size. The second was mild surprise at the number of yoma he could sense in the village. Enough to taint the area with yoki, making it difficult to pinpoint locations. They must have been having quite a feast, he could smell the faint trace of blood, carried on the breeze. He walked into the village, heading toward what he thought was likely to be the town hall, meeting house, home of the town elders, whatever it was officially in a place this small and run down.

He would have made an odd sight to anyone, but to one who knew what he was, he cut an even stranger figure. An over large black robe with white diamonds towards the hem covered the green tunic he wore. Pants of the same shade as the tunic adorned his legs, though they cut off mid calf. On his feet were an odd pair of wooden sandals, suspended an inch off the ground by two pieces of wood perpendicular to the sole of the sandal. A green and white striped bucket hat pressed down his neck length blonde hair. A few days worth of stubble covered his chin, and his slim build contrasted with the enormous sword strapped to his back.

As he strode through the streets, the few people left outside turned to glance at him before turning away. He was surprised. Although few recognized him immediately-or at all-for what he was, he usually got more of a reaction that _that_. He walked up to a man loading a cart with crates of something.

A jovial tone rang out. "Greetings O man of labor! Could you perhaps direct me to the estate of your chief?"

The burly man glared at him then grunted. "Chief's been dead for a month. Benji's in charge now. Same building though, that big one in the middle."

The man in the striped hat bowed forward slightly. "I am sorry for your loss." With that, he turned on his heel causing his robes to billow around him and moved quickly toward the largest building.

/0\^_^/0\

It was not much more than a large town house, though the doors were rather impressive. He swung the doors open and walked toward the table in the center of the room. A group of perhaps a dozen men were gathered around it, muttering to each other in angry tones. The man seated at the table was slightly broader at the shoulders than the others, though shorter, and sported a full beard.

"Enough." He stood, slamming his fist into the table. "There is nothing we can do but wait for a response to our request. Though if it takes much longer, there won't be many of us left." A defeated tone had crept into his voice by the end.

"You really think the Claymores will be able to do anything? Everyone we have put on guard and patrol disappear. With this many of us gone _missing_," there was a slight bite to the word, "it would have to be a truly fearsome monster to…" He stopped when he noticed the incredibly strange man who had just walked into the room.

The man spoke. "I am here to see Benji." He pulled a fan from somewhere in his clothing, pointing it with unnecessary flare at the man seated at the table. "Are you he?"

"I am. And who are you? Travelers don't often come here anymore and they leave soon after. The ones that stay don't last long anyway. Have an unfortunate tendency to get eaten."

The odd blond man suddenly flipped his fan open and held it fluttering in front of his face. "I am but a humble traveling monster slayer sent by the Organization to assist in ridding your village of a great horror." The hat shadowed his eyes, and a sly grin could be seen just over the top of the fan. "Though it sounds to me that you have more of an infestation than just a single yoma." He flipped the fan closed into his left hand. "What?"

The men were staring at him, expressions varying from mild surprise to outright shock and curiosity. One of the men towards the back pushed his way to the front, unashamedly gaping. He was thin for a worker, but the muscles he had were hard and corded. "If you were sent to deal with our problems, then you must be a Claymore. No one else could wield one of those swords. But I thought only women could become Claymores. The men died horrible deaths."

'Not dead, and not as horrible as you think. More horrible for the rest of us, I should think,' the robed man thought, though he responded by waving his fan at his face and a wide grin. "The rest did. I'm just special like that." The fan snapped shut again and the tone of his voice turned serious. "Got any useful information for me, or do I just go out and kill the things?"

Benji grimaced. "Two months ago, the first person vanished. He was an old man named Roshi, and he just disappeared one night. It wasn't noticed for some time, he wasn't very well liked. But then others started to disappear. The most we ever found were blood stains in alleys. Now no one leaves their homes at night, but it doesn't help."

The swordsman's hand tipped his hat forward, casting his eyes into shadow. "I imagine it wouldn't do much. Yoma are quite strong after all. But you should know, even if it won't do much for you, that you are all rather terrible at playing pretend." There was shock plastered across the faces of the men as he spoke. "I could go on to explain all the pointless things you did here, but that would take time and you _are_ all going to die anyway."

Realizing they were caught, the veins on Benji's arms bulged and his nails grown. His teeth sharpened and… his head was separated from his shoulders before he even had a chance to move. The remaining men in the room growled and charged toward the Claymore, transforming as they went, but before they took more than two steps, they were split into pieces.

The last man, the thin one, was shaking pressed up against the wall. What had happened? These were all respected members of the community, and Benji, Benji the chief. They were monsters? And the silver eyed slayer… he hadn't even seen the man move. He was still standing there, the fan in front of his face.

The silver eyed man grinned again. 'They never do anything particularly intelligent do they? Though this was more interesting than anything I have seen in a long time. Impersonating town elders…what next?'

He tipped his hat up slightly with one finger, addressing the man on the floor. "I normally have a vaguely entertaining speech here, but given what just happened I think I might forgo it just this once. A man in black will be along for the money later. Give it to him." He paused, looking around. "I thank you for your patronage." With that he bowed toward the thin man and walked out the door, his robes billowing around him.

/0\^_^/0\

The oddly dressed man sat at the edge of a small clearing leaning against his large sword, now stabbed into the ground, the bucket hat tipped low over his eyes. A rabbit roasted on a spit over the small fire burning merrily in from of him, the aroma permeating the clearing, especially for one of his senses. Once the rabbit finished cooking, he took it off the fire, holding it by the stick. The man ate half the animal before leaning back and looking vaguely bemused. Without warning, he hurled the small stick and the remains of the rabbit across the clearing like a miniature javelin, impaling the tree opposite him.

He leaned back onto his enormous sword, looking up to the heavens as if in askance. "All I want is to finish a big meal. Nothing grand, just a rabbit, or a bowl of soup or something. But no…!" he threw up his hands. "I get super powers and I don't need to eat. And of course not needing to means I'm incapable of eating a full meal. Oh joy!" His rant continued along that vein for another five or so minutes before a man in a black tight coat stepped out of the trees.

"You always were quite the odd one Kisuke," the man in black mused, half to himself. He had on a black jacket that fastened on one side and black pants. On his head was a black hat of a similar style to the other man's, though the brim was at a higher angle. Wire sunglasses covered his eyes despite what little amount of light there was to begin with, and from what little skin could be seen, he appeared to be completely hairless.

The newly identified Kisuke answered without turning. "Perhaps, but that's half the fun. Being normal is so very boring. Besides, even if I tried, I could hardly be normal by any definition of the word now could I?"

"Well that's certainly true." The man in black moved into the light, a bag clutched in one hand. "Quite a job you had this time. Anything interesting? You always complain that nothing interesting ever happens."

"They were pretending to be the town council. It was certainly new, but they fought no better than usual. Which is good I suppose, but hardly anything worth looking into." Kisuke closed his eyes, leaning back against the sword. "Assignment, Rubel?" he asked, curious. It had been months since his last awakened hunt, and he hadn't had a chance to mess with any of the organization other than Rubel in so long. Rubel never reacted to anything he did anyway, so there was hardly any point. Working with other warriors was fun, more for him though, than anyone else. Besides, there were only so many basic yoma exterminations that one could do before becoming utterly bored.

"Assignment. Yes. I think you will find this one more stimulating than what you have been doing here, but I doubt you will enjoy it. You will be working with several others, meet with them in the village four days travel to the north of here."

"Not even a name for this dinky little town, nor any information on the assignment?" Kisuke smirked, his eyes shaded by his hat. "That's how it goes I guess. Just enough information to get by." He stood suddenly, kicking dirt onto the fire. A fan appeared again in his hand, waving gently over the lower half of his face. "Nothing else for me to do here. Might as well be on my way. Later Rubel." He turned, robes billowing dramatically and walked off into the dark.

"You were ever the odd one Kisuke." Rubel addressed the dark. "I hope you can manage this. It will test even you." He too turned and waked into the dark, leaving only a pile of smoldering dirt covered cinders.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi people! Sorry chapter 1 didn't have any author's note on it, but I really wanted to get the prologue up. The concept for this story occurred to me not long after I finished reading Claymore. What would happen if Urahara Kisuke was put into the Claymore universe? 'Cause, you know, he's blonde and has a sword. I have plans, oh so many plans. **

**I am kind of new at this, this being my first story, so if you see any errors, mistakes, whatever, review and let me know. You should review anyway. Pretty please? I hope to update somewhat often, but I make no promises. **

**Disclaimer: This is where I make some witty comment about not owning Bleach that somehow relates to the laundry cleaning fluid. I would, but that joke got old years ago, and I don't have it in me to try to make it work. I also do not own Claymore, though I do have a couple of pocket knives and a Turkish curved sword. It would be so cool to own a real claymore, or one of the swords the warriors use. Should I obtain one, I would also like the physical capabilities to actually wield one. Like Raki. Holy crap, talk about taking a level in badass. **

**Spoiler Warning: This chapter technically only has spoilers through the beginning of volume 5, but that is a decade or so before the start of the series. Whatever. And the previous statement is spoiler through volume 20 or so. **

**One warning just in case it comes up. I have only read the manga of both Bleach and Claymore. That is what I consider canon, and as such, the anime does not exist. Moving on. **

/0\^_^/0\

The morning of the fourth day of travel dawned on Kisuke coming into view of his destination. He had walked four days straight and was just about to arrive now. Standing on the hill, he paused a moment, grabbing his hat. "How the devil does he do it?" Releasing his hat, he pulled out his fan before slapping it into the palm of his hand, shaking his head ruefully. "Every time." Another shake of the head. "He always gets the travel time right. Che."

Looking at the village, his eyes narrowed. It felt like the last town, yoki everywhere, but this time it was more…active. Embroiled. Awake maybe. Whatever it was, it would probably best for him to get down there. Stepping forward with renewed vigor, he moved toward the town.

/0\^_^/0\

Entering through the main gates, Kisuke stopped, tipped back his hat and let out a long low whistle of surprise. The streets were utterly drenched in blood and body parts, all of them yoma. "That's…a lot of blood." Hearing the wet sound of steel through flesh faintly over the squish of his footsteps, Kisuke angled towards the noise.

He turned a corner and stopped. About halfway across the town down the main street were three blonde figures in the standard outfits of the Organizations warriors. He couldn't tell who they were at this distance, but he could tell that one had long hair, one shorter hair, and the last had shorter spikier hair, for all the good it did him in identifying them. Kisuke started moving toward them, and watched as another blonde figure came into view by falling flat on her face out of an alleyway.

He fought the urge to face palm momentarily before giving in to it. 'Really? Here we are, an group of deadly warriors, and she trips onto her face. Wonderful. So much for the mystique.' He whipped his head back and forth suddenly, looking around and over his shoulders. 'As far as I can tell, there are no live humans in the town, so it isn't too bad, she didn't ruin our reputation with the people. Though I imagine she lost some respect from them. Why is she here? For that matter, I don't even know why I'm here. Not for this town, that's for sure. No one left to fight for.'

The bucket hatted man continued towards the women just in time to hear what he thought was the end of an argument.

"…is Priscilla."

Kisuke paused. Who was… she was the new number two, wasn't she? He shook his head, focusing again on what was being said. Now they were fighting about who the real number two should be. But that voice sounded familiar. N…something. Natasha, Nim, Natalie, No...Noel, that was it! Number 17, last he knew. But it had been months, if she was arguing over the number two position, she must have been pretty high up there, four at least.

Bah, too confusing trying to figure it out from here, from memory and all the odd snatches of information he picked up over time that seemed to be badly out of date. Now, the more important question was how to enter, walk in normally, or just flicker next to someone. Both were equally dramatic if done right, but if any of the women had a twitchy sword arm from all the fighting… Well, he'd rather not deal with it. Oh he could certainly block a sudden swing, and even if he got hit he would heal, but it was more than he wanted to deal with this early in the morning. Four days straight of travel would do that to a person, even someone like him.

Deciding it to be easier to walk, Kisuke strolled towards, the four warriors.

/0\^_^/0\

"What on Earth is this?" Noel stumbled back in shock. Behind Priscilla in the alleyway were dozens of yoma, all in chunks scattered around.

"They were all chopped to pieces, but I didn't feel a thing. How did…" Sophia gasped in surprise.

Irene looked down at Priscilla in contemplation. 'It doesn't matter who she fights or how hard it is. She does it all without exhausting her power. She is like Teresa of the Faint Smile in that way. When I saw her fight, I was terrified.' She shook her head, silvery hair barely moving. 'Normally I would never go against Teresa, no matter the numbers, but my mind seems to have been changed for me. Priscilla will soon surpass Teresa.

Sophia turned from the carnage to Irene. "So is that it? We have all of us, now we go after her?"

Irene looked at the bloody mess in the alley before glancing at Sophia. She shook her head. "No. We are waiting for one more."

Noel's head snapped from the yoma corpses towards Irene. "I thought it was just the four of us. Who are we waiting for now?" She snapped.

"Number six," Irene replied.

Noel looked as if she were about to say something, but stopped, confused. "I know we _have_ a number six, but I don't know anything about her."

Irene gave her a dry look. "Of course you don't. Even I know next to nothing about the current number six. To the few who know of her, she is called Kisuke of the Bucket Hat for the hat she wears, and all I know about her is that she is far more powerful than her rank implies."

"Now that's just insulting." Another voice broke into the conversation. It was smooth and held an undercurrent of mirth, as though nothing could cause the owner of the voice to be unhappy, or perhaps that the owner of the voice just found everything around it to be amusing. The voice was also unmistakably male.

Three heads spun so fast you could almost hear the necks crack, and Priscilla looked up, still kneeling. A man wearing utterly bizarre clothing stood next to Irene. She stared at him in utter surprise. How had he…she hadn't sensed him at all. Years had passed since she had last been that astonished. The source of her surprise had wooden sandals and a green and white striped hat. But the thing that all sets of eyes were focused on was the handle of a sword that they all recognized sticking over his shoulder.

"The gender confusion I might excuse given the nature of our organization, but really." Here the man shook his head, "They're still calling me that? Nothing of all my other incredible feats, my amazing techniques…just Kisuke of the Bucket Hat?" The newly identified Kisuke removed his titular hat and held it over his heart in a gesture of mourning, a dejected look on his face. He abruptly stood up, sweeping the hat back onto his head in one smooth motion. "I'm here and you're all here, so now what? What is the terrible beast we go to slay on this venture?"

Irene's calm composure cracked and her jaw dropped. "You are number six, Kisuke of the Bucket Hat?" she asked, a note of uncertainty there amidst the surprise.

The man suddenly flourished a fan and bowed deeply before he answered. "I am but a humble traveling monster slayer, here at your service my dear. Kisuke I am, but only of the Bucket Hat according to others." Kisuke shook his head. "I have many ways I prefer to name myself, but no matter how much I love my hat, I would not name myself after it."

Noticing the blank looks he was getting he clarified. "Yes. I am number six, Kisuke of the Bucket Hat."

Sophia pushed past Noel, a strange combination of outrage, confusion and utter shock on her face. Noel didn't react as she was shoved aside, so surprised was she. "You are male," she announced, accusation in her voice.

Kisuke looked at her, then spoke in a long drawn out voice, as one might to a small child. "Yeeeeessssssss. I am maaaaaaaale."

"That's not possible. The Organization stopped making male warriors past the first generation. They lost control of their power too easily."

He pondered the statement for a moment before waving the fan lazily in front of his face. "You're absolutely right."

"Then how…" Sophia looked entirely lost.

"Let me guess." Kisuke began. "You were about to say something to the effect of 'the Organization is no longer making male warriors and you couldn't be a remnant of the first generation.' Am I right?" Sophia nodded. "You would be partially right. It is true, that despite the experiments of the Organization they no longer create male fighters. You are incorrect in your other assumption." Kisuke bowed grandly. "I am the only unawakened warrior remaining from the first generation."

This proclamation was greeted with silence and dumbfounded looks. Irene had managed to regain her composure and stood to the side with her arms crossed, but there was still surprise on her face. Priscilla stood there with a mild look of confusion on her face, and Sophia and Noel were gaping at him, Sophia pointing a finger at him stuttering. "B-but…y-y-you …how?"

Kisuke grinned. This was what he lived for, completely confusing people. It made things far more interesting than they might be otherwise. Everyone else in the Organization could have their revenge kicks. All the ones he had fought for had been avenged decades ago. He was what he was, and there was no going back, so he might as well have fun along the way.

His beloved fan appeared in his hand again and he waved it at his face. "I'm just special like that."

She exploded. "Special! How can you call it that?" Sophia shouted. "You're still here from the beginning. You clearly have a way to keep from losing control over your power and you obviously didn't tell anyone else. If you had none of us would have to worry about awakening!"

With a somber, more serious look on his face, Kisuke answered her. "I have. I told Isley and Dauf and everyone else I knew my secret to staying in control but no one else has made it work yet. Once the rest of the men had lost themselves and the Organization started making female warriors, I tried telling some of them. Not many of them trusted me, but I was alright with that. I just didn't want to lose anymore comrades." His hat threw the top half of his face into shadow as he continued.

"It didn't work with them either. I still have yet to discover why. It might have something to do with the yoma I was implanted with. I think most likely it's a combination of being in the process of dying and awakening simultaneously. Though that might combined with a unique part of my personality, or it might take a level of acceptance few others can reach. Although it might be rejection or separation rather than acceptance…" Kisuke trailed off tapping his chin with his finger.

"Acceptance, rejection, what are you talking about?" Sophia asked.

With his fan yet again covering his face, Kisuke muttered to himself loud enough for those around him to hear. "Only one in all these years has even begun to understand…might as well tell them. They might get it, but what is the point. Worth a shot, anyway." The fan snapped shut and he turned, speaking louder than before. "Listen up all of you. This is my 'big secret.' I hope it works for you. Don't laugh." He paused again.

Sophia got impatient. "Well?"

"What I did…"

"Yes?"

"Was…"

"Get on with it!"

"I named my yoma half."

Sophia stared at him and even Irene seemed startled. Noel seemed confused, and to Kisuke's well trained eye, not much seemed to be going on for Priscilla.

"And what exactly did that do for you?" was Sophia's next query.

"Let me explain it like this. You and I were human, right? It could be said to be open for debate what exactly we are now, but we were human. They gave us yoma blood and implanted within our bodies yoma flesh. Rather painful that." Kisuke shuddered a moment before clearing his throat. "Moving on."

"Now we use the power of the monsters we fight to kill them, and if we lose control of that power, then we lose our humanity entirely and become like them. Or if you like, get someone to kill you before that happens. Not pretty either way. Would you agree that we are human-yoma hybrids?" Sophia and Noel nodded. Kisuke shook his head. "Wrong. We are humans that have a yoma grafted onto our systems. When we lose control, we don't give in to our yoma half, the out of control energy in our bodies forcibly merges the yoma that lives in us with us. The reason an awakened one is so powerful is because it uses a combination of the warrior's power and the yoma's."

Noel felt like she had when she first was made a member of the Organization: really dumb and completely out of her league. "I don't get it. The yoma half is a yoma, not part of us…or it is part but it's not part? This is confusing." Sophia agreed with her friend. It was confusing. Better to stick to what they knew, using yoki to strengthen their bodies and kill yoma.

Irene, on the other hand seemed deep in thought. She looked up at Kisuke before speaking. "They are just another voice in our head, so to speak?" He whipped around surprise evident on his face, before merging into a wide grin. "And when we use yoki, we are actually draining it from another being that exists within our bodies?"

Kisuke shrugged. "More or less." He smiled broadly and waved his arms, "This is great! You're the second person to have any idea about what I was saying in forever. Two in a generation, who'd a thought?" The last part was spoken to himself, almost reverently.

"But you still haven't told us what it would do for you. What's the point?" Noel asked.

"The point?" Kisuke turned to her, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hat. "The _point_ my dear…" His eyes glowed gold as his yoki began to climb. He stalked toward Noel, golden slitted eyes peering out of the shadow. "…is that if it works for you the same way it did for me…" She began to back up, placing her hand on the hilt of her sword, the other warriors taking stances around in case they needed to fight. Kisuke's yoki abruptly vanished and a wide smile split his face. "Then you never have to worry about awakening. Smiles for everyone!" Noel was entirely taken aback by the sudden change in mood, and Sophia was unsure if she should sheath her sword. Irene of course never needed to unsheathe her sword unless it was in use.

"That's not… It doesn't work like that!"

Kisuke shrugged and tried again. "If you acknowledge that the yoma in your body is not you, it separates it from you a little bit more. It gains a rudimentary intelligence, and sort of gives you something, someone, to reason with, rather than instinct and emotion to pit your will against. Besides, the yoma doesn't want to merge with you either. It just happens when you over use it's power. An awakened being is the merged form of the yoma and the warrior. That goes for minds as well." From the confusion evident on her face, she still didn't get it. If she didn't get it now, it was unlikely she would get it later. Not his issue.

"Besides, since I got this to work, the most physical change I have felt, even going all out, is the color of my eyes. How's that for the point of it all? The yoki still somehow stimulates my body to work better and faster, just as it did before, but I have no increased bulk or fangs or claws. Still working on figuring our _why_ it does that though" He grinned at the outrage on Sophia and Noel's faces.

Sophia frowned suddenly at the implications of something the man with the hat had said earlier. "I still don't get how you do it, but two in a generation? Irene is one, then who was the first?"

"Hmm? Oh, some little girl I saw last time I was at the Organization's training ground. Teresa was her name. She was utterly pathetic then, so I explained my secret to her and told her to do with it as she would. I don't know if it actually worked for her, or if she figured something else out, but she got _way_ stronger after. Really fast too. Which is totally unfair. I never got strong that fast. I've existed for a really long time and never got strong that fast. It took time and effort to get here. Whatever."

"Somehow, we end up seeing each other a lot, which is kind of odd given that I rarely see any of the warriors, but it's been a couple of years since I last saw her. " Kisuke looked off, lost in memory. "She was so cute then too. But then she took a couple levels in badass after that. Teresa's some high number now I think. Still a little frosty though. Hmm…" He trailed off, the image of a sweet little girl a good two feet shorter than him coming to mind. Cute and little then, tough and badass now.

So lost in thought was he that he entirely missed the shock emanating from the other single digits in attendance. Noel poked Irene, getting her attention. "Think it's the same Teresa? It would have to be, wouldn't it. Why on earth did they send him on this mission if he was close to her?"

Irene looked at her, "I have never heard of another Teresa, and it is unlikely that someone with such a step up so to speak would have died nameless." She crossed her arms, hoping that once Kisuke found out he wouldn't explode. They'd have to tell him soon…

"Wait… What about cute little Teresa?" Kisuke whirled around, clearly not as lost in thought as they had believed.

Noel spun around, eyes wide, the perfect image of a deer in headlights. "Um… Well you see… She kind of… That is to say…" She stumbled over her words, trying to get herself out of the line of fire.

A sigh came from Irene. "Enough." Sophia fell silent. "She is the reason we are here. Our orders are to kill Teresa." Kisuke raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, his fan once again flipping open to cover the lower half of his face, masking his reactions.

"And the reason for this is…?"

"She killed humans, and went rogue after defeating the warriors sent to eliminate her. We are the remaining strongest, and as such are here to end her."

Kisuke leaned back and his hand went to cover his mouth. The assumption of Sophia was that it was shock, but she was very wrong. A yawn escaped his lips, and Sophia and Noel almost fell over in surprise. The hand dropped and a grin spread across his face. "That was entirely unexpected. Didn't think her the type to go rogue, but you never know. Come along, time's a wastin'." The man spun on his heel and began to walk off.

Shaking herself, Sophia turned to Irene, "That went better than I thought."

Irene nodded, then turned to the others. "We have work to do. Let's go."

/0\^_^/0\

"A week. One week. I'm actually rather impressed. She's usually much harder to find than that."

Irene looked at Kisuke, noting, once again, the grin pasted across his face. It had been one week since they met in the town over run by yoma, spent looking for Teresa. In that week, she had attempted to pierce the veil of confusion that surrounded Kisuke like a shroud, but despite having been in close proximity to him for seven days, she still didn't understand him.

Not that a week was really enough time for that, but Irene could usually tell something about a person in that time. She was calm, and that allowed her to see things most others didn't see in their mad rush along the way. Although Irene had met them before, it hadn't taken her long to realize that Sophia and Noel, were good friends, despite always being at each others throats. Priscilla was special. She certainly had power, but she had barely become a full warrior before gaining her rank and being sent on this mission. She was… naïve, perhaps, and did not understand the world the warriors lived in yet.

Kisuke on the other hand was incredibly difficult to get a bead on. He laughed and joked and never seemed to have any kind of restraint. But he must have been powerful to retain a spot in the top ten, even if he came off as a joke. He seemed… calm, at peace, far more than any warrior she had met.

"So de we have a plan, or is it just go in, find her, and jump her all at once?"

Irene sighed. Again. It seemed she had been doing that a lot this week. "The four of us will find her, and I will engage Teresa initially. You, Sophia and Noel will take advantage of any openings you can, and Priscilla will attack from behind, allowing us to finish the fight quickly."

Walking along the road ahead of Irene, Kisuke spun around to look at Irene, his cloak billowing as he did so. "You actually think that will work? Against Teresa?"

Irene gave him an odd look, reacting to both the question, and the fact that he was walking backwards while talking with her. "Of course it should. Teresa is powerful, but against the five of us, she will fall."

"I hope for your sake she does." The man in the hat turned around before continuing. "Either way, this promises to be an interesting fight. I haven't had a chance to be involved in anything interesting in forever." He lamented.

Irene raised an eyebrow at Kisuke. "You think that fighting number one is 'interesting'?"

Kisuke grinned at her, "'Course I do. I wouldn't have said it otherwise."

"And why…?"

Kisuke dropped the grin for a moment, tapping his chin with his fan contemplatively. "Why? When you've been around as long as I have, most things tend to get boring. As weapons of the Organization, all we really do anyway is fight yoma, sometimes each other, train, and otherwise just exist, waiting for the next thing. None of us really have any purpose, myself less so than others due to my age, so I try to find things that interest me. Awakened fights, messing with other warriors, and now this." He gestured ahead of them at the road. "Now a fight I look forward to. Something to break the monotony."

Irene was surprised. She hadn't thought of the ramifications of existing that long. Eventually, she supposed, one would have done all there was to do, so why stick around? "You find amusement wherever you can." It was a statement, not a question.

"Of course. Life is dark enough the way I live it, I couldn't image how bloody and dreary it must be for you."

A bloody and dreary life. Is that what she lived? Irene pondered Kisuke's seemingly offhanded remark. She did her duty to the Organization. That was why she was here. They had pulled her from the clutches of yoma, it was her job. Was there supposed to be something more?

Kisuke's hat dropped slightly, shadow covering his eyes. For anyone looking directly at him, he would seem to be plotting something. Irene was not, and so missed it. "Enough of this depressing stuff!" He paused a moment before stating, "I will join you in this fight, but do not expect much of me."

Irene blinked before looking at Kisuke blankly. "Why?"

"Well… I'm number six, and against number one I won't really do much. Besides, I don't really want to fight Teresa with all of you."

Irene's eyes narrowed. Something seemed strange about his statement. It made sense given what they now knew of his relationship with Teresa, but still… For now, she would leave it. "As you wish." She inclined her head slightly in Kisuke's direction.

/0\^_^/0\

"What's so funny?" Teresa sat on one of the beds in the best room in the village. When she defeated the yoma in the square she had planned to keep moving, but when the villagers insisted on doing something for her, she complied for Clare's sake. Travel for any child was hard, but keeping up with a Claymore, the number one no less, was something else entirely.

Clare continued to giggle. "That's the first time I've seen you so surprised. You thought they wouldn't welcome you."

Teresa sighed. "That was the first time anyone had ever been grateful." Clare glanced up in surprise. "I usually only took money from towns that couldn't afford it. It only seemed natural. It felt… good, to save people without a reward."

Her traveling partner smiled, then crawled up onto Teresa's bed. "Can I sleep with you?"

Looking down at her, Teresa raised a brow. "But there are two beds. Why squeeze into one? Oh…?" Clare lay sprawled on top of Teresa's legs. "I guess she was more tired than she let on." Smiling fondly, she rested a hand on Clare's head. "Sleep well. We'll stay here awhile."

She rested her back against the headboard of the bed and had just begun to relax when she sensed three strong yokis enter the town. She gently moved Clare to the side and then moved to her feet. With any luck they would pass her by, but she doubted it. Sensing the auras outside the building, Teresa donned the metal parts of her armor, finishing with the bracers around her wrists as the door opened. It seemed that perhaps a fight might be in order.

**I guess I can see why people enjoy writing. It's so much more fun when you do it on the side, and when it's about something you want to write about. I have two months, then back to papers for me. Whoopee. You know what you should do? Reviewing would be really great right about now. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Spoilers for this chapter are through volume five. Technical references for volume fifteen or so. **

/0\^_^/0\

The door made a loud slam as it opened. Irene strode into the room, stopping upon seeing her target, hair and cape still despite the sudden change in momentum. Teresa finished buckling the last of the few pieces of armor the Warriors wore to her right arm before speaking. "Ah… It's been a while, hasn't it Irene? You look well."

The tightly controlled expression on Irene's face didn't change. "I'm here for your head, Teresa."

As she spoke, a smug smirk manifested itself lightly over her lips. "We'll see about that."

Large slashes erupted around Irene on the door frame, and when she stepped forward, they doubled in number and size, the door falling to pieces in the wayside. The faint smile Teresa was famed for shifted out of the smug look, "I don't mind you using your Quicksword, but leave the girl out of it." The smile remained, but her eyes were cold.

"It will be over before she even wakes. Don't worry." As Irene spoke, everything within range continued to fall apart. The door was practically splinters and mulch. As she approached Teresa, her sword stopped, caught on the sword of her opponent. Irene's eyes widened in surprise, more expression than she had shown in a long time, when dealing with anyone other than Kisuke. He was the exception to a number of rules.

"What's wrong? Your sword seems to be stuck." With a colossal wrench of effort, Irene whipped her sword free of her opponents block and retaliated with a flurry of steel. To her utter annoyance, Teresa matched her blow for blow. Even moving as fast as she was, her opponent was just that much better.

Irene's general irritation increased when Teresa's damnable smile widened and the number one spoke again. "You've gotten better." Another clash of steel, this one slightly disrupting Irene's balance; a large problem when fighting at high speeds. "But not good enough." Irene corrected her stance in time to prevent a gouge out of her upper arm.

Off to the side, the girl lying on the bed raised her head, sleep still fogging her eyes. The sound of the dancing swords had awakened her, the repeated clashes and clangs. Not quite conscious enough to know what was going on, she did recognize the woman whom she had been following. "Mmm… Teresa?" Was something wrong? And who else was here?

/0\^_^/0\

Two houses down a man stood staring at the events unfolding across the road from him. If any could see him, they would stare and wonder how he managed to balance on the steep slate of the roof in only wooden sandals.

Kisuke sighed. The people were all focused on the fight. The other warriors with him were so foolish to attack here. The Organization's public purpose was to fight and destroy the yoma, as well as protect the citizens of the nation. Warriors fighting in public was _not _good for the peoples moral. Their hidden purpose, well, Kisuke had heard rumors. Not even rumors though, rumors of rumors. Those who knew were kept well away from one like him, and those who figured things out tended to disappear. It sounded like one of the stories he had heard as a child, a powerful group, terrible secrets, people going "missing." Maybe later he would have to find out what was really going on, something rather interesting to break the monotony. After this mission perhaps. Catch up with Teresa, blow some stuff up, and take on the Organization. It would be far different than usual; all the better then. The bucket hatted man grinned.

They had tried to kill him before, but he was too skilled for them. They had no idea of his full power. Heck, Kisuke didn't even know his full power. It wasn't like he could just train with his full power. Aside from the fact that it would be about as far from inconspicuous as it was possible to be, his yoma was…not nice. She didn't like to be called upon, even in a real fight. Why he had to be stuck with a monster in his body with the mentality of a PMSing woman he would never know. Though Kisuke would have to be careful she never heard him think that. She might just destroy him. He grimaced.

Then he grimaced again.

Noel had just jumped up and slashed across the window in an attempt to get Teresa. Honestly, these were supposed to be the best in the Organization? They were amateurs, getting by on power. Mind was important too, tactics, smarts. Wrecking the homes and inns of the villages was really foolish. Even if the Warriors tended to disturb the various normal people they met, it was just stupid to give them more ammo.

Teresa jumped out the window just before Noel managed to strike downwards, hardly surprising with her skill. What did startle Kisuke, enough so that he almost dropped his fan, was what the number one was holding under her arm. Holding her sword was normal, a pack was rarer, but still not far out of the ordinary; a small child was so far beyond expectations as to be a non-factor.

But there she was, landing solidly on the ground, Teresa's arm hooked around the girl's waist.

/0\^_^/0\

Upon landing, the sound of shifting metal on stone hit her ears. Whirling around, Teresa's eyes widened in surprise, 'There was another one? I didn't sense her at all.' The number one's grip on Clare loosened and she stood, the smaller girl remaining on the ground. 'What is she, and how did she do that?'

The Warrior spoke. "It's an honor to meet you. My name is Priscilla, I just got certified." She shifted uncomfortably, something that confused Teresa. "I must apologize for my rudeness, but we've come for your head."

Teresa turned to the girl at her side. "Clare, step away."

"Wha…b-b-but…" She stuttered.

"I'll be fine, trust me. Just like I said before."

Clare looked hard at Teresa, before running off. Halfway across the street, she turned back, as if to reassure herself that her guardian had not disappeared. The child darted off again, as far away as she could and still see, as well as close as she dared. The thought of someone who could fight well enough that she thought she had a chance against Teresa terrified her, the fear purring her flight. Countering the fear was her desire to see her friend well, leaving the girl hiding behind a beam in front of one of the buildings, just eyes and fingers poking out.

With her charge out of the line of fire, Teresa was free to focus on the credible threat in front of her. Focusing more closely on the one who intended to take her head, now identified as Priscilla. "Priscilla, was it? I know you're new and everything, but answer me something. Why didn't you attack from behind? You might have wounded me, ended this fight before it began."

Without moving, Priscilla managed to convey a shrug. "But that would have been cowardly, wouldn't it?"

"Huh?" Teresa's brow furrowed.

"There was something I wanted to ask you." At that, the newly commissioned warrior had Teresa's full attention. "When the warriors came to get you before, why didn't you surrender yourself? You broke the Organizations rules."

Teresa didn't respond, and Priscilla continued. "Our job is to kill yoma, and protect the people. When you murdered those men, you broke the very thing we are. You broke the trust that we built with the ones we protect. By killing one of them, you tear apart the very thing we work for." At this, Priscilla's grip on her sword tightened and she slid into a slight crouch. Her sword held at her right side, similar to how most sheathed normal swords, she declared, "Forgive me, but by the rules of the Organization, I must take your head!"

Clare, hidden behind her post gasped at the danger that stood before Teresa. Irene and Noel stood merely watching at the window of the second story room they had demolished in the attempt to stop and defeat the rogue number one. Sophia was at the door, looking on. And Kisuke maintained his place on the roof, looking down, and his expression hidden, as often, behind the green and white folds of his fan.

Though concealed, the grin behind the fan widened more than it had been before. 'And now we see how far little Teresa has come. This Priscilla should give her a bit of a workout. If not, I suppose I'll need to step in."

Kisuke stood, green and white robes waving slightly in the wind, gazing down on what promised to soon be a warzone.

/0\^_^/0\

Teresa angled her sword down, looking at her adversary. "You have done a wonderful job of justifying the Organizations logic. But you see, I'm afraid the real world doesn't work that way young lady."

Priscilla snapped. She darted forward, lashing out with her sword as she did so. Teresa managed to yank her blade into a block before she was sliced in two. Priscilla had moved far faster than she had expected. Ducking and throwing herself back, Teresa retaliated with an overhead swing.

Priscilla blocked, then sung again. The sound of blades clashing filled the street, and Teresa backpedaled furiously. This was not going at all the way she had planned. Her foe stuck again with her overly large blade, knocking Teresa back. She twisted around and used the momentum from the hit to collide with the building behind her feet first. Teresa surged back at Priscilla, her claymore already blurring into motion. She hoped to use the combined power of her body's motion and that of her weapon to break Priscilla's guard.

Priscilla slid aside, moving just enough to deflect the overpowered attack. Teresa was pulled past Priscilla's standpoint by her initial force, and tried to whirl around before Priscilla could attack. 'This is far harder than it should be,' Teresa thought. 'Why?'

Her opponent vanished and Teresa's eyes narrowed. A swish of air warned her, and her blade spun once again to protect her, this time from behind. 'I don't wish to hurt her, but she is making this far harder than it needs to be.'

Priscilla jumped forward, and was suddenly far too close to Teresa, as Kisuke would say, inside her personal bubble. Even though she was in the middle of a fight, Teresa blinked hard several times before fending off the number two's attack. Where had that thought come from? She hadn't seen Kisuke in years. A slice from Priscilla quickly brought her thoughts back on track. A flurry of blows passed, all closer than she would have liked.

Sweat trickled down her face. Teresa blinked. She was actually sweating?

It was time to take this a little more seriously.

/0\^_^/0\

**Alright, sorry people. I have no good excuses, but I'll say them anyway. I had this finished end of August, something like that, and planned to add more to it as I hate stories with short chapters. Then life kicked in and I headed off to college. More specifically engineering college. For those of you who don't know, that means I have very little free time, and most of that is taken up with gaming. SORRY! Anyway, you have this. **


End file.
